Crocco in Love

This is Crocco! Find him in the latest issue of II Love, the paper model magazine! Marko Zubak (of Ye-Bot fame) does an excellent job in assembling this great mag all on his own. II Love has always been the premiere online magazine for paper model content and still is the ONLY modern paper toy magazine out there!

Mouse and Games

Paper modelers are usually the type of people that just constantly make stuff. Once you make something, it's always a little easier and more fun to design the next thing.

You can see this rule play out with Tyler Tinsley's next Kickstarter campaign, right here: Melon the Mouse.

Microbot UPGRADE!

This is Microbot!

And he's got a new way to move!

Tetrobot

Tetrobot from Blocks that Matter

From the indie game, Blocks That Matter by Swing Swing Submarine, now you can build your own pop-N-pose Tetrobot. Print this cubic character on thick card stock, glue it up, then find the coolest stance for this little guy!

The arms and legs fit into slots on the sides and bottom. Small pieces of paper inside hold the limbs steady. Pop the parts in and out in different ways to make Tetrobot stand, recline, walk, celebrate or even freak out!

Read the full post to download the Tetrobot pattern and to see the instructional images

Indie Game Paper Toys

The Humble Indie Bundle has proven many times over that getting Indie games AND donating to useful groups like the EFF and Child's Play works!

Pay what you want and get three great games; Voxatron, Blocks that Matter, and The Binding of Isaac. Soundtracks are also downloadable for the latter two games!

To help celebrate the Humble Indie Bundle, go ahead and build some free paper toys of characters from these games.

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Cubeecraft has already released two characters from The Binding of Isaac - Isaac himself (stricken with fear) and the disgusting Monstro, a mini boss that will crush you! Click on the images to download your own!

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Now you can download and build the main Robot Hero from Voxatron in Cubee form! 

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Also, have a go at making Tetrobot from Blocks That Matter -- pop the parts in and out to make him pose in several different ways!

Gallery 001

I want to thank everybody who has sent in pics of the robots they've built, so here is a mini gallery of some photos from fellow modelers on Nice Paper Toys to show my thanks! Click on them to visit each user's photo gallery at Nice Paper Toys. See what else they make and like!

Sweet Robo built by Tito O. Glorioso

Poco Bot built by Dan Watson

Bachsy built by Dan Watson

Robo Discotronic

I've received a wonderful surprise gift! Okikteluk - www.okikteluk.net - just built some poseable bots, but he did a terrible job in keeping them locked up in their designated work zones! They escaped and immediately went rogue! Basic loyalty and productivity algorithms were quickly overwritten by outrageous dance routines and sensory addiction to random colored lights.

"Bachsy the Great" by Okikteluk - click to see the entire flickr album!

The partying seems to have gotten more serious and all of sudden the little bots blew through thousands of dollars in batteries! They made new friends in the wee hours, and threw birds around in the end when things got rowdy.

Thanks Okikteluk! Stop-motion animation and robotography were exactly what I hoped to see after posting these paper toys!

Bachsy

Are you ready for this one? Bachsy is my third take on an old design from a while back! I went a little bit crazy on the details. He's box-shaped but he still has a bit of class, even though he's just built to push crates..

- 11 points of Articulation using Screw-In Flat Axles
- Mouth opens and closes
- Eye Visor can be positioned to make "surprised" or "moody" expression

Only four pages of parts and full step-by-step photo instructions. This boxy bot is easy to build if you have a little bit of experience making paper toys.

Print on thick 110lb card stock for maximum durability and fun! The patterns fit in the margins for both Letter or A4 paper sizes.

DOWNLOAD - Bachsy Paper Toy - (2.12 MB)

DOWNLOAD - Bachsy Instructions - (869 KB)

 

Urban Robots

Urban Robots by Jean-René Ménard 

This is a paper toy kit I found while looking for paper toy books online. Urban Robots is published by DJECO, a French toy company that makes children's toys and craft kits. This Djeco kit and the other paper toys kits they've just released appeared on my radar without any warning. Searching for these kits reveals no previews in English. Paper model collectors will be happy to know there is another kit now available, Hip Hop Tanaka, featuring five toys designs by Shin Tanaka!

"Urban Robots" is a die-cut paper toy kit, in the style of Papertoy Monsters or the Paper Toys tin. You'll  just need a bottle of craft glue to get started! The robot designs are by Jean-René Ménard, an illustrator who designs plastic toys for Djeco as well.

Contents of Urban Robots: 9 pages of parts + instruction booklet

A small, illustrated instruction booklet is included with the sheets of parts. Four of the robots have two pages of parts and the other is a single page. All five of the robots have bright colors and a common design scheme full of details like hex nuts, ear mics and grills and vents -- design touches that I myself like to use on robot designs! These are some of the best cute-styled robots out there.

Each of the two-page robots, Boombox, Polok, Twitter and CMJN also have an element of pose-ability or movement. Boombox and Twitter both have hidden speakers that can pop out. Polok has a sliding panel and CMJN has a paint nozzle head that rotates, slides up and down, and the head can tuck into place. The single-page Biclo robot can be placed in and removed from his little bicycle - sweet!

Biclo - his legs stick out through the seat

The quality of the materials in the kit are good; each page is die-cut with high precision and all parts are easily removed without tear or rip damage. The sturdy card stock paper is thick enough to last a long time, but be careful when folding the edges back and forth - some delamination and peeling can occur if you aren't careful.

The complexity of each robot is easy and approachable for paper crafters of an experience level just beyond "beginner". No part is too slim or fiddly. Each shape is robustly supported by glue tabs of appropriate size. The instructions will guide smoothly through the construction of each robot.

Twitter - with pop-out top speaker

Urban Robots are fun to build and fun to play with! I'm looking forward to getting the other paper toy kits in the series, especially Hip Hop Tanaka, Spacecraft and Dragons and Chimera. Search for these kits through Google, since they seem to have been distributed mainly through educational toy channels -- these paper kits aren't really books, so they don't all show up on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Facebot Dances Too!

Beta Antoni has made his first stop-motion animation, and it happens to feature Facebot practicing his new dance algorithm. There are some very smooth moves here, and Beta's hard work has inspired me -- I need to make a robot design that is specially designed for being an actor in stop-motion movies just like this.



Thanks Beta! This is great!